Ivory Coast braces for rival groups' showdown

IVORY COAST

Marco Chown Oved and Rukmini Callimachi, Associated Press

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, April 3, 2011

Residents barricaded themselves inside their homes Sunday, blanketing windows and pushing furniture against doors as this country on Africa's western coast tensely awaited the final battle between the two men who claim the presidency.

Thousands of foot soldiers backing the internationally recognized president, Alassane Ouattara, assembled on the city's northern edge, preparing for the final assault. Their leader was declared the winner of last November's election, but Ouattara has not been able to assume office because the incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo, refuses to yield power.

A resident of the area where the presidential palace and mansion are located said around 700 Gbagbo supporters had gathered at the gates of the compound Sunday, after state television, still controlled by the entrenched ruler, called on the population to form a human shield to protect the palace. The resident, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, said the supporters had been armed with AK-47 assault rifles.

Toussaint Alain, Gbagbo's representative in Europe, told reporters in Paris that Gbagbo is not giving up.

"President Gbagbo ... is managing the crisis with teams that have been put into place to deal with this aggression coming from the outside," Alain said. "It's not up to America or France to decide who must lead the Ivory Coast."

The international community has been nearly unanimous in backing Ouattara, whose win with 54 percent of the vote was confirmed by Ivorian officials and a 900-strong U.N. observation mission.

In Washington, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called on Gbagbo to step down. She expressed concern about a massacre in the western town of Duekoue, where U.N. investigators said Sunday at least 430 people were killed last week, after pro-Ouattara forces moved in. It's unclear which side committed the killings, with both camps denying responsibility.

The armed group backing Ouattara began its advance on the city six days ago, taking nearly 80 percent of the country before reaching the perimeter of Abidjan.